WITH MORE INFORMATION about skincare available online than ever, it can be hard to know where to begin when it comes to creating a routine. 

However, the team at The Skin Nerd are changing that.

“The skin is an organ, respect it accordingly,”  Jennifer Rock, CEO and founder of The Skin Nerd, tells us. 

“Your skin is your largest organ, you have it for your whole life and it’s the shield between you and the rest of the world, so it’s very important that you look after it,”

Create an effective routine

While skincare has a reputation for being complicated, it’s actually quite simple. An effective skincare routine for anyone, whatever their age, can be as easy as following three steps – cleanse, serum, SPF.

According to the team, a basic skincare routine for the morning and evening could look something like this:

- First, pre-cleanse with something like the brand’s Cleanse Off Mitt, a microfibre mitt which can remove makeup with just warm water, and then cleanse again with a cleansing product to fully remove any pollution, excess oil, SPF or makeup from the skin.

- Apply your serums, ideally a hydrating serum and a vitamin A serum. Vitamin A is a ‘hero’ skincare product, according to the team, as it can help to control sebum production, diminish the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and help with healing and inflammation.

- Apply a broad-spectrum SPF every morning – rain, hail, or shine – to protect yourself against UVA, UVB, HEV and infrared rays.

It’s never too late to start, and the summer is a great chance to get into the swing of things if you find you’ve a little more time to try out new products and experiment.

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Choose the right SPF for you

Although SPF is something that many people only think about or incorporate into their routine during the summer months, The Skin Nerd team are adamant about using it year-round – and finding the SPF that’s right for you.

When it comes to SPF, there are a couple of differences between them, explains Jennifer. “You can choose between a chemical or a mineral SPF. They each have slightly different benefits or drawbacks to them.”

And make sure you’re applying it properly

“A chemical SPF is something that you might see more often in the supermarket,” says Jennifer. “The benefit of a chemical SPF is that you don’t have to cover every single square centimetre of your skin. It’s best if you do, but the fact is that it gives you a kind of chemical shield, so if you miss a tiny bit of your skin, you’re still largely protected.”

With mineral SPF, on the other hand, you need to cover every single bit of sun-exposed skin. “It’s best to tap it into your skin to make sure it’s as effective as possible, and to use at least half a teaspoonful to cover your face, neck, and ears,” she says.

“If you have slightly more sensitive skin, a mineral SPF can be a good option, as it’s sometimes more easily tolerated by sensitive skin.”

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Add an exfoliant to your warm weather routine

If you have those three steps nailed, it’s worth thinking about adding in another product during the summer months, says Jennifer.

“The summer is a time when you might need to up your exfoliation. It’s warm, we’re sweating more, we’re outdoors more and what can happen is that sweat can make a sort of soup on our faces when it mixes with our SPF or our makeup and it can slide into our pores and block them. If it’s not removed effectively it can block pores and your skin might respond with a breakout.”

There are different kinds of exfoliating acids, it’s not one size fits all, so you can find one that suits your needs.  

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Look after your skin inside and out

While using the right products can make a big difference to your skin, at The Skin Nerd, skincare is more than skin-deep. “One of our philosophies is ‘inside, outside and on top’. What you eat, what you put into your body, how stress affects you, all of these different things can impact your skin.”

“Especially this summer, the team have heard frequently from clients who can see stress taking a real toll on their skin,” says Jennifer.

At the start of lockdown, we heard from a lot of people who told us that they weren’t wearing makeup but their skin wasn’t looking great and, often in these cases, stress was a huge factor. 

Common signs that stress is wreaking havoc on your skin can include breakouts, as well as seeing flare-ups in existing skin conditions like psoriasis and eczema. 

“Although things are opening back up now, people are working from home and we’re on Zoom a lot more and looking at ourselves an awful lot.”

As anyone who has had skincare problems will know, your skin can have a great impact on your confidence and mental health. But, at The Skin Nerd, the team focuses on working on improving the skin you have, rather than trying to cover it up.

“Love the skin you have and look after it as best as you can by providing it with the vitamins and nutrients that it needs to keep it as healthy as possible. You might still get your breakouts, you might still get your dry patches, but you’re trying to work towards overall skin health.”

Choosing products that suit your own skin’s needs is important when it comes to tackling your own skincare concerns, which it why The Skin Nerd offers an online skincare consultation service, called the Nerd Network, to provide clients with individualised skincare routines and check-ins. For more expert information on skincare during the summer months and to join the Nerd Network, visit TheSkinNerd.com.